Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
A selection of roses from the Pococks Rose Nursery in Hampshire I drove down to Pococks Rose Nursery near Romsey in Hampshire earlier this week and spent a very happy hour (and two) immersed in their collection of beautiful and extraordinarily perfumed roses, some of which are included in this gallery. The Hybrid Teas and…
Continue reading ➞ Heaven is a rose nursery…
Hibiscus Hamabo A medium-sized deciduous shrub, bearing these striking mallow flowers from late summer into autumn. Position in full sun, in a sheltered site and it will grow up to 1.5m tall and through. Holding a prized Award of Garden Merit from the RHS - The Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (AGM) helps…
Continue reading ➞ Bringing the tropics to TW11
Viola F1 'Antique Shades' The following is from the Seedaholics website I have recommended before and is more complete than I could possibly be. Plants are on sale now in garden centres and nurseries, though seeds might be the way to go next year.... Some unbelievably coloured violas have come on the market in recent…
Continue reading ➞ Antiques Roadshow…
Echinacea Summer Cocktail I'm really rather looking forward to the changes in colour this new, short-ish coneflower promises - this very attractive, sunny yellow, taking on salmon-rose colours as they mature.... Position: full sun Soil: most soils, except very dry or boggy Rate of growth: average Flowering period: June to September Hardiness: fully hardy A…
Continue reading ➞ Summer Cocktail
A whole lot of David Austin - not much writing, but plenty of pictures for this Friday night. Grace David Austin rose, Grace, with distinctive quilled petals. One of the shorter bush roses and also excellent in a container. Princess Anne A rose of exceptional health, immune to powdery mildew and blackspot and flowering in…
Continue reading ➞ An English Rose… and another…
I'm making a start on my first ever batch of Rose Petal Jam and have beheaded Lady Emma Hamilton - many of her in fact - for the purpose.... The petals have been carefully picked over to remove any unwanted joyriders but no more. They had not been sprayed with chemicals, obviously this is important…
Continue reading ➞ Boiling Lady Emma…
Dahlia David Howard I'm really taken with this dahlia, though this will probably be of little surprise, being as it is orange, but with these neat blooms sitting a top such dark foliage, it really is a winning combination. Small enough for the front of the border, or a container, but big on impact. Position:…
Continue reading ➞ Rich orange flowers and dark foliage – but not Lady Emma Hamilton?!
Dark leaved Heucheras, very useful 'evergreen' perennials Now I love a Heuchera and every season, there are more and more to delight. These three are in the darker spectrum, Mahogany (rich, chocolately), Black Beauty (glossy, deep blackcurrant) and Binoche (unusually, a matt near-black). Typically growing to between 40-80cm, a leafy crown of ruffled leaves, topped…
Continue reading ➞ Dark chocolate and blackberry
Lady Emma Hamilton Lady Emma Hamilton, my favourite English rose from the David Austin stable. I'm inflicting yet more pictures on you here, my one-man crusade to bring this rose up to the levels of popularity enjoyed by Gertrude Jekyll. Fresh, rich plum foliage, gorgeous citrus scent and glowing blooms. Healthy as anything, repeat flowering.…
Continue reading ➞ Here she comes again…
The Teddington Gardener 